YAM Class Notes: May/June 2016
Looking over the past five or six years’ notes for this edition, I found that I was either commenting on the end of a cold winter or the upcoming 50th. This year, the winter was mild, the 50th is over (but not forgotten), and instead we have the endless debate and primary season still in full swing. I think I might have preferred a cold winter. Thanks to Dan Bergfeld and Jeff Miller, we did have an excellent annual winter event: the class hockey dinner. Dan filed this report: “On Saturday February 6, the Captain’s Room at Mory’s was filled to capacity by ’65ers and their guests for the Yale vs. Harvard hockey game warm-up. Over 35 participants came from far (Peter Conze from Florida and Dan Hogan from Boston) and near (Bruce Alexander from New Haven). All were treated to a fine dinner and the singing of the Spizzwinks. The main event was staged at the Whale before an energized and rowdy crowd. Yale played a fast skating game with many exciting plays that ended in a 2 to 1 win over Harvard. This year’s hockey dinner delivered an outstanding evening of companionship and entertainment.”
The usual winter “notes void” did not arrive, as witnessed by this from Alan Jacobson: “For many years I have combined my work as a neuroscientist and academic psychiatrist with a passion for painting. I have shown my work in group shows, and on April 9 I had a solo exhibit at the public library in Harrison, New York. I paint from my imagination both people and landscapes. My website www.alanmjacobsonartist.com presents a wide range of my work.” Murray Nabors also helped fill the queue: “I am enjoying my eighth year as dean of liberal arts and sciences at Missouri Western State University. My family and I live on a small farm outside of St. Joseph, Missouri. Check out my website MurrayNabors.com for information on novels and other books I have written. I cannot believe I am 72, it seems more like it should be 42!”
Dennis Mack reported on the unique activities of another classmate: “I was surprised to find an e-mail in my inbox from a classmate I have not seen since 1965, although we have been in contact these last several years. Howard Morrison was sharing a link to the website for Verdant Kitchen, www.verdantkitchen.com, a business he is associated with because it produces organic ginger and turmeric on his family plantation in Georgia. So, add Howard to your list of class foodies. VK seems to be getting some good recognition. Oprah has endorsed their products. That, I have learned, is quite a high bar.”
Mal Douglas took inspiration from the 50th and he and wife Sus have been reconnecting with classmates since last August. They visited Donna and me in St. Michaels, followed by a swing north to meet up with Stan and Doozle Trotman, then Jeff and Susanne Miller in Norwalk and Don and Fan Ogilvie in Martha’s Vineyard. More recently, Mal reported; “We have just returned from a wonderful weekend with the Trotmans in Hobe Sound. It was meant to be a reunion of the Morse roommates, but we were only successful in getting Joan and Buzz Ahrens down from Cherokee County north of Atlanta. The Ogilvies were in South Africa and David Nochimson was skiing in Utah. We also got to see Anne and Peter Conze. One of the highlights of the weekend was an airboat ride Stan had arranged on Lake Okeechobee. Additionally, I have been putting in a lot of time as president of the Yale Club of Southwest Virginia. We had a great Feb Club in Blacksburg with another one scheduled in Roanoke. We’re hosting a Yale summer intern, have a Yale Day of Service planned in May, and will be making a couple of Yale Book awards later this spring. I’m enjoying it all greatly.” Mal is also looking at the possibility of a class mini-reunion in southwest Virginia in 2017. You’ll be hearing more about it in the coming months.
I’m sorry to report that Richard (Rich) Jennings died on February 28 in New York. Rich is survived by his wife Nancy, three daughters, and four grandchildren. He had a long career in real estate investment banking. We also lost Ben Rowland, who died on March 1 in Washington, DC, after a long struggle with cancer. Ben spent 15 years on Wall Street, and then held leadership roles at both the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank. He is survived by his wife, Julia, daughter Katherine, son Ben, and grandson, Finn.
Finally, David and Linda Roscoe recently ventured north to Charleston from their winter retreat in Spring Island, South Carolina, to have lunch with John and Holly Schenck. Among the topics of conversation were improvements to the class website such as easier posting of remembrances. David will be pursuing these changes and will be working with me to mount a survey to gauge your interest in and gather ideas for various class activities.
By John Pinney, ’65